The Management of Labour at Work

Management and labour at work are in a somewhat difficult relationship as both have divergent interests and perspectives on what work actually is. Traditionally, the issue of work has been observed from at least two different viewpoints that reflect these interests. One view is enshrined in the field of labour studies, the other in management studies. At the overlapping point, the field of industrial relations research has traditionally sought to cover both views. Most of labour, management, or industrial relations studies are conducted within the positivist division between facts and values, the artificial separation between objectivity and subjectivity, theory and method, theory and practice, etc. A view that seeks to overcome these divisions calls for a new approach in which attitudes of domination, false social partnerships, and structural inequalities are replaced by a knowledge interest directed towards emancipation. Such a critical direction admits openly to a standpoint that includes an ethical and political interest. From this perspective, work is seen as an advancement of critique on domination thus fostering resistance. A critical understanding of management and work goes beyond social action that has been reduced to a scuffle for and the exercise of legitimate power at work. It recognises scientific conscious- ness as political consciousness and the scientific enterprise as a political enterprise.285